Wi-Sun Ryu1, Eun-Kee Bae2, Soo-Hyun Park3, Sang-Wuk Jeong3, Dawid Schellingerhout4, Matthias Nahrendorf5, Dong-Eog Kim6. 1. Department of Neurology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, South Korea. Electronic address: wisunryu@gmail.com. 2. Department of Neurology, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, South Korea. 3. Department of Neurology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, South Korea. 4. Departments of Radiology and Experimental Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. 5. Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. 6. Department of Neurology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, South Korea. Electronic address: kdongeog@duih.org.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: We investigated whether left ventricular filling pressure is associated with arterial occlusion in patients with ischemic stroke related to atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: Ninety-nine patients with AF-related stroke were included. Left ventricular filling pressure was assessed by E (early mitral inflow velocity)/e' (early diastolic velocity of the mitral valve annulus velocity) ratio based on tissue Doppler echocardiography. Arterial occlusion was evaluated by computed tomography or magnetic resonance angiography. In addition, the presence of a hyperdense middle cerebral artery sign (HMCAS) on noncontrast brain computed tomography, a marker of acute thrombus burden, was assessed. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of E/e' with arterial occlusion and the HMCAS. RESULTS: The mean age was 73.2 (±10.2), and 56% were men. Thirty-six (36.4%) patients had arterial occlusion on imaging. E/e' ratios were independently associated with arterial occlusion with an odds ratio of 1.24 (per 1 increase, 95% confidence interval 1.11-1.38). The receiver operating characteristics curve demonstrated that E/e' ratios have an excellent discriminatory capacity in predicting arterial occlusion with an area under the curve of .77 (P < .001). In addition, E/e' ratios were higher in patients with HMCAS than in those without (19.1 versus 14.0, P < .001). CONCLUSION: E/e' ratios were associated with arterial occlusion in AF-related stroke and may play a role in identifying patients at high risk of severe stroke.
BACKGROUND: We investigated whether left ventricular filling pressure is associated with arterial occlusion in patients with ischemic stroke related to atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: Ninety-nine patients with AF-related stroke were included. Left ventricular filling pressure was assessed by E (early mitral inflow velocity)/e' (early diastolic velocity of the mitral valve annulus velocity) ratio based on tissue Doppler echocardiography. Arterial occlusion was evaluated by computed tomography or magnetic resonance angiography. In addition, the presence of a hyperdense middle cerebral artery sign (HMCAS) on noncontrast brain computed tomography, a marker of acute thrombus burden, was assessed. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of E/e' with arterial occlusion and the HMCAS. RESULTS: The mean age was 73.2 (±10.2), and 56% were men. Thirty-six (36.4%) patients had arterial occlusion on imaging. E/e' ratios were independently associated with arterial occlusion with an odds ratio of 1.24 (per 1 increase, 95% confidence interval 1.11-1.38). The receiver operating characteristics curve demonstrated that E/e' ratios have an excellent discriminatory capacity in predicting arterial occlusion with an area under the curve of .77 (P < .001). In addition, E/e' ratios were higher in patients with HMCAS than in those without (19.1 versus 14.0, P < .001). CONCLUSION: E/e' ratios were associated with arterial occlusion in AF-related stroke and may play a role in identifying patients at high risk of severe stroke.